The flood of information hitting me without a chance to sort it out was enough to make my head spin.
I rolled my eyes around with a stupid expression, and then my gaze met Theo’s—still glaring at me, still fuming like he hadn’t cooled off at all.
And a figure who looked exactly like him surfaced in my mind.
Zed was strangely absent more often than not. Running an abandoned facility on the frontier, yet constantly coming and going to the capital and meeting the king—it had always struck me as odd.
But all of that was...
“You’re saying... the king knows I tamed monsters?”
“Do you think it’s only the king? Anyone who’s in the know, knows.”
Zed, you slick little bastard.
You worked me to the bone, and while you were at it, you were selling my name to secure yourself a seat.
“Wouldn’t you be curious? Someone who carried out monster executions, yet tamed monsters.”
“That’s...”
“I wondered what method you used to torment them. But looking at you now, it seems you have different know-how.”
Adeline stared at me in silence. Her calm smile pressed for an answer.
It sounded like she was asking how I tamed monsters... but it wasn’t something with a single, neat explanation, so I couldn’t answer easily.
Then Varen, who pulled me into an even tighter hold, answered for me.
“Love.”
“.......”
Well, I did heal them and take care of them with affection... so it wasn’t exactly wrong.
Still, an oddly charged air filled the shabby tent. No one dared to speak first—until Adeline clapped her hands and burst into laughter.
“Ahaha! I see. Of course—nothing is stronger than love! Ahaha!”
The laugh carried something like madness.
And Adeline didn’t stop there. She staged something even more eerie—fixing her gaze on empty air as if she were looking at someone, and continuing the conversation.
“See, Cain? I told you. Nothing is greater than love. Oh, dear. I didn’t mean you’re a woman without love. But your way of loving is different from mine, isn’t it? Calm down and listen to me. It’s better than killing. Yes—trust me. All right, fine. Let’s talk more tonight.”
Seeing it in front of me—something that had only been “interesting” on the page—sent a shiver crawling over my skin. That wasn’t a split personality. It looked more like she was possessed.
Without thinking, I grabbed Varen around the waist. Varen lowered his head and pressed his lips to the crown of my head.
“You look frightened. Cute.”
“.......”
Normally, I would’ve told him to stop saying disgusting things and headbutted him, but this time I chose to stay quietly in the dragon’s arms.
A woman who talked to empty air. An assassin who appeared like a shadow. Theo, who saw me as an enemy and watched for an opening. The fact that I was sharing a space with people like that was enough to make me lose my mind.
Even if he was an unpredictable troublemaker, the only place I could lean on was Varen.
Trembling in that hot embrace, I saw Adeline beam and toss her gaze at me.
“I have many things I want to ask you, but I should go back now. I’m terribly tired.”
It was a welcome thing to hear. But the ease with which she was letting us go immediately made me suspicious.
When I narrowed my eyes and looked at her with open doubt, Adeline waved her hand.
“If you want to stay here, I can give you a bedroom, but do as you like. It’s not as if we brought you here as hostages or captives.”
“...Then why did you post guards outside the door?”
“To protect you two, of course. We won’t let our guard down, but accidents do happen.”
Even with Adeline’s words, I couldn’t relax.
When I stayed tense, she shrugged and smiled.
“The Rebels live under the threat of the nation. If you join hands with us, remember this—there is no safe place left in this country.”
With that, Adeline really did leave, patting her shoulder as if exhausted. Her escorts followed, and the tent—packed with bodies—emptied out.
Only Noance and Theo remained, as if they still had something to say. Of all people, it had to be the two who threatened me, and Varen made his hostility obvious.
But Noance jerked his chin toward the outside.
“Follow me. I’ll show you the way out.”
“Ahem. Ahem!”
Theo cleared his throat while straightening his collar, as if deliberately showing off to Varen. A red mark remained around his neck.
After telling us to follow, even the two men left the tent. After the storm tore through, the only thing left was the two of us clinging tightly to each other.
Only then did my tension finally loosen. If Varen hadn’t been holding me so firmly, my legs might have given out.
“Ugh... seriously. Nothing is ever easy....”
I groaned with my forehead pressed to Varen’s chest. He carefully lifted my chin.
When I looked up, blue eyes full of worry searched my face. I gave him a tired smile, and Varen stroked my cheek with his large hand.
Just moments ago, he’d held me tight enough to break bones—now he treated me like a glass doll that would shatter at a touch.
So I took his hand first and rubbed my cheek against his palm. It meant: it’s fine. You can touch me.
“Haa... Ceryl, what am I supposed to do with you....”
“Don’t worry so much. I don’t think I’m destined to die easily.”
“But....”
Varen couldn’t finish. His brows drooped, his eyes wandering, doing nothing but taking me in.
I’d never seen Varen this anxious. Even if I told him a hundred times not to worry, it didn’t seem like it would reach him.
What could I say that would convince him I wouldn’t die? As I quietly chose my words, I let out a playful laugh.
“You said you saw our wedding. Don’t tell me you married my corpse.”
“...Ah.”
“Then I won’t die before that, right? The future a Dravergh sees won’t change.”
Only then did the worry fade from Varen’s face, replaced by relief. He looked at me with softened eyes, then tilted his head and leaned in.
As his sweet breath neared, I naturally closed my eyes. His soft lips were just about to touch mine—
“Hey, come out already!”
The entrance flap was yanked open with absolutely no warning.
Seeing me and Varen frozen like that, Noance locked up on the spot, too.
After a short, thick silence, he coughed as if embarrassed.
“Ah... love, huh. So it really was... love.”
“.......”
“Come out slowly. Finish what you were doing. Yeah. Uh, looks good.”
Like he had zero immunity to this kind of thing, Noance rambled incoherently and vanished.
Varen, glaring coldly after him, pressed his lips to mine again the moment he was gone.
He bumped into me like stamping a seal, then tried to part his lips, so I shoved his chest away.
“Why, Ceryl. He told us to finish and come out.”
“...Move, you bastard.”
For a second, I wondered if we should just refuse to join hands with the Rebels after all, but I couldn’t ruin the bigger cause over personal embarrassment. I bit my lip and endured it.
***
Even while walking under Noance’s guidance, I kept scanning the surroundings.
I’d already been getting a rough sense of it from the rustling leaves, but the Rebel base was in the forest.
I was sick of forests, but since eighty percent of the territory was forest, it couldn’t be helped. And it was a suitable location if they wanted to avoid the king’s eyes that were everywhere.
What was more puzzling was the scale. I could clearly sense at least a hundred people, but there were only six tents set up.
Even those tents were only about the size of four-person camping tents. There was no way that many people were all camping, and the scene made no sense.
“These tents have spatial magic on them. They look small on the outside, but the inside is more than spacious enough.”
Theo explained in a blunt voice.
When I looked at him in surprise, Theo kept walking straight ahead with a displeased face.
As Theo drew closer, Varen bared his teeth. I took Varen’s hand to tell him to stay calm.
I didn’t want to cause any more trouble.
And I had plenty I wanted to ask Theo, too.
“Hey, Theo...”
“If you’re apologizing, don’t bother. That wasn’t even an apology.”
At his cold tone, I shut my mouth. I did apologize, and yet somehow I felt wronged.
It was true that I hadn’t been able to have a proper conversation with Theo in the tower. The situation was too urgent—and if I was being honest, I hadn’t cared about his sob story.
Even now, when I thought back, Theo had been someone who deserved to die.
But there had been another reason besides that....
“Ah! What about the tracking °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° magic?”
Only then did I remember. Theo had been wearing a necklace with tracking magic on it.
Even if he took it off, I was sure there would be other devices. That was why I hadn’t been able to bring him with me.
At my words, Theo flicked his eyes toward me and rolled up his sleeve, extending his right arm.
“I should’ve cut the arm off. But whatever the reason, I got free thanks to you, so I’ll say thank you.”
A magic circle was engraved into Theo’s forearm like a tattoo. Half of it was warped by the burn scars that ran from his chest, but it was still there.
